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Aug. 18, 2020Iowa City, Iowa |  By: AP

'Horrifying' data glitch skews key Iowa coronavirus metrics


IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Iowa's coronavirus website has made the pandemic look less severe than it is because of a software error that artificially lowers the number of new confirmed cases.

Dana Jones, an Iowa City nurse practitioner, said Monday that the Iowa Department of Public Health has inadvertently been reporting fewer new infections and a smaller percentage of daily positive tests than is truly the case.

The department acknowledged the glitch in an email to Jones Friday and said the department is working on a fix. Iowa's overall number of more than 52,600 who have tested positive since March is not affected.